178080: Is it permissible for ordinary people to label as a kaafir one who reviles Islam, without referring to the scholars concerning that?

Is it permissible for ordinary people, if they hear someone reviling Allah or Islam or the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to label him a kaafir without referring to the scholars?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

There is no doubt that reviling Allah, may He be exalted –
Allah forbid – or reviling His Messenger or His religion – Allah forbid –
comes under the heading of disbelief in Allah the Almighty. The one who does
that has committed major kufr that puts one beyond the pale of Islam. If he
dies in that state without having repented from it, then he will be one of
the people of Hell who will abide therein for all eternity.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The scholars are unanimously and definitively agreed that if
a Muslim reviles Islam, or criticises it, or he reviles the Messenger
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), or criticises or mocks him, then
he is an apostate and a kaafir and it is permissible to sentence him to
death and seize his wealth.

End quote from Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb by Ibn Baaz,
p. 139

Shaykh Ibn Jibreen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:

What is the ruling on one who reviles Allah and His Religion?
What is the expiation for that? Please note that the man concerned is
married; does his wife become haraam for him or is she divorced?

He replied:

There is no doubt that this is apostasy from Islam and
disbelief in Allah for which the person who does it deserves to be sentenced
to death unless he repents; his wife is divorced from him and his ties of
kinship with his relatives are severed, so he does not inherit from them and
they do not inherit from him. But if he repents, regrets it, prays for
forgiveness and acknowledges his mistake, Allah will accept his repentance
and he can take his wife back if her ‘iddah has not ended; if it has ended
then it is up to her, and it is not permissible for him to take her back
except with her consent.

End quote from Fataawa Islamiyyah, 3/533

Secondly:

If a person hears someone clearly reviling Allah, or shar‘i
proof is established to that effect, then there is nothing wrong with him
believing that this person is a kaafir. This is the most abhorrent and
serious kind of reviling, and no one does that except one who has gone far
astray and has no respect for Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, or one
who has lost his mind and does not know what he is saying.

This kind of reviling is not one of the obscure issues that
need a ruling from the scholars or need to be subjected to examination;
rather it is something very clear and obvious that can be recognised by
ignorant and knowledgeable alike, and old and young will be disgusted by
it.

But at the same time it is essential to bear in mind the
shar‘i purpose behind denouncing that and regarding it as repugnant, which
is to remove and ward off that evil and to strive to make the one who said
it repent and come back to his Lord, even if he has apostatised and gone
beyond the pale of Islam. Asking the apostate to repent is something that is
well known and well established. So efforts should be made to exhort him in
a manner that is appropriate to his situation, explaining the abhorrent
nature of what he has done and to discuss with him the shar‘i way that is
appropriate to his situation.

The scholars of the Standing Committee said:

Reviling Islam – Allah forbid – is kufr according to the
texts and scholarly consensus. Allah, may He be exalted, said
(interpretation of the meaning):

“Was it at Allah, and His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses,
lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and His Messenger (SAW) that you were
mocking?

Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after you had
believed”

[at-Tawbah 9:65].

And there are other similar texts.

It is essential to advise him and denounce him for that; if
he responds, praise be to Allah, otherwise it is not permissible to initiate
the greeting of salaam with one who has reviled Islam, or to return his
greeting if he initiates the greeting; it is not permissible to accept his
invitation and he must be shunned completely until he repents or until the
ruling of Allah, which is to be sentenced to death, is carried out on him by
the authorities, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: “Whoever changes his religion, execute him.” Narrated by
al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh, 3017.

End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah, 2/12

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

If a person repents from any sin, even if that was reviling
Islam, his repentance will be accepted, if he fulfils the conditions that we
have mentioned. However it should be noted that a word may constitute kufr
or apostasy, but the one who utters it does not (necessarily) become a
kaafir thereby, because of the presence of some factor that prevents him
being labelled as a kaafir. In the case of this man who said that he reviled
Islam in a moment of anger, we say to him: If your anger was so severe that
you did not know what you were saying, and you did not know whether you were
in the sky or on the ground, and you said something without thinking and not
knowing what you were saying, there is no ruling that is applicable to these
words and you are not to be labelled an apostate, because this is something
that was said involuntarily and without thinking, and if anything is said
involuntarily and without meaning to, Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted, will not bring one to account for it. Allah, may He be exalted,
says concerning vows (interpretation of the meaning): “Allah will not
call you to account for that which is unintentional in your oaths, but He
will call you to account for that which your hearts have earned” [al-Baqarah
2:225].

End quote from Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb, 24/2

For more information on the guidelines on labelling anyone as
a kaafir, please see the answer to question no.
85102